AGS Fall Conference 2025

Saturday, October 18, 2025, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. This year, our Fall Conference will be held as a Zoom Webinar. You can attend from the comfort of home or share the experience with other like-minded genealogy enthusiasts by attending a Watch Party in your area (see below).

Can’t attend live? No problem! All registrants will receive a link to access the video for 30 days.

Speaker

Thomas MacEntee — So, what if I told you that a Baby Boomer guy with a love of punk rock music but also Renaissance Art, somehow “fell” into the technology industry almost 40 years ago, and then left a lucrative career in information technology to pursue his love of family history and genealogy?

And that his passion for tracing his roots began over 48 years ago when, at the age of 14, he was watching the mini-series Roots on ABC Television at his great-grandparents’ house in February 1977?

While some might think these two elements – technology and historical research – are opposites. The truth is, “tech people” like Thomas are needed to guide today’s genealogists through the maze of options so they can deploy the best apps and devices as they break down those research brick walls.

Having taught over 1,000 in-person and virtual genealogy lectures since 2010, serving on the boards of many genealogical societies, organizing a group of over 1,000 genealogy bloggers, and helping researchers save money on genealogy products and services, Thomas is ready for the next chapter in his professional journey: changing the way genealogists acquire new research skills, motivating researchers to take a chance on new technologies, and improving how family stories and heirlooms are preserved and passed on to the next generations.

Thomas MacEntee: author, educator, student, advocate, marketer, storyteller, entrepreneur and that “genealogy guy” who helps you accomplish your family history goals.

What he believes:

• In abundance; that you get back ten-fold what you give freely to your profession and to your community.
• Knowledge is to be shared and not hoarded.
• Not everything is free, including genealogy records access, educational content and stuff found on the Internet.
• In order to receive the next good thing coming your way, you must have an open hand, palm up . . . you can’t get there if you’re constantly holding on to what you have.
• Always give credit and attribution; if you can’t find the artist/author/innovator, then don’t use it or share it.
• Celebrate the success of others and believe in possibilities – theirs and your own. Instead of saying, “Hey, that should be me!” say “Hey, that could be me!”

Schedule

Saturday, October 18, 2025
8:30 am — Welcome screen and countdown timer
9:00 am — Opening Remarks
9:15 am — Session 1: “You Use WHAT for Genealogy?”
10:15 am — break
10:30 am — Session 2: “Internet Archive: A Gold Mine for Genealogists”
11:30 am — Lunch
12:30 pm — Session 3: “Translating, Transcribing, and Summarizing Documents Using AI”
1:30 pm — break
1:45 pm — Session 4: “Creating an Ancestor Sketch”
2:45 pm — break, instructions for Annual Meeting
3:00 pm — AGS Annual Meeting (for AGS members)

Topic Descriptions

Session 1: “You Use WHAT for Genealogy?” — Have you ever wondered if you’re missing out on how some genealogists are using tools such as Evernote, Microsoft Word or Excel, Google and more? Learn what’s hot in the world of apps and websites and how you can start using them! We’ll review a group of familiar apps and websites that are being used in creative ways by the genealogy community. You’ll also learn how to think “outside the margins” and start repurposing other apps and sites for your genealogy research.

Session 2: “Internet Archive: A Gold Mine for Genealogists” — The Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) is a free, online repository rich with genealogy source documents, including census images and e-books. Learn how to navigate the Internet Archive and leverage the best search strategies to download a variety of materials, including archived web pages, e-books, video, audio, and more.

Session 3: “Translating, Transcribing, and Summarizing Documents Using AI” — Learn how to harness the power of artificial intelligence to assist in translating, transcribing, and summarizing a variety of genealogy records. A handwritten baptismal record from the 1800s? No problem. A faded newspaper obituary? No problem. We’ll cover the best AI platforms as well as how to craft a solid prompt to get you the results you need.

Session 4: “Creating an Ancestor Sketch” — Face it: most genealogists never get around to publishing that family history book based on their genealogy research. How about a different approach: producing short 3-5 page “sketches” about an ancestor? You’ll learn how to include a cover, photos, facts, family stories, source citations, and more! And guess what, once you get a few of these ancestor sketches done, you can compile them together for one big book!

Watch Parties

You may prefer to watch the conference in the company of other genealogy enthusiasts. Your registration and $25.00 fee allow you to attend from the comfort of your own home or at a Watch Party in the company of others. Here is the list of Watch Parties open to the public. Check back frequently as we add more Watch Parties.

Calico Rock — Calico Rock Museum and Visitor Center, 105 Main Street. CANCELED due to equipment issues.

Fort Smith — Fort Smith Public Library, 3201 Rogers Ave. Doors open at 8:30. Snacks will be provided, and lunch will be available at local restaurants. For more information, contact Mary Carson, Genealogy Manager, Fort Smith Public Library, mcarson@fortsmithlibrary.org or 479-783-8571 x1184

Jonesboro — First Community Bank – Community Room, 8101 US 49, Brookland, AR 72417 (Corner of Highway 49 & School Road). Sponsored by Genealogy Society of Craighead County Arkansas. Lunch is available at several area restaurants, or bring your own. For more information, contact Nancy Matthews, nlmatthews@suddenlink.net.

Little Rock — Second Presbyterian Church, 600 Pleasant Valley Dr., Little Rock, AR 72227. Sponsored by The Heritage Seekers Genealogy Club. Doors open at 8:15. There is no food available at the church, and there are no restaurants nearby. Bring your own lunch/snacks. Directions: Enter the parking lot & go to the far right back corner to the circle drive entrance. Once inside, follow the corridor to the end, make a left. Room 62-63 is at the end of the hall. This entrance is also handicap accessible. For more information, visit the Contact Form.

Rogers — Engine Software Company, 5214 Village Pkwy, Suite #100, Rogers, AR. Sponsored by Northwest Arkansas Genealogical Society (NAGS). There is ample free parking in front of the building. Look for a big orange signage at the entrance. As this is a privately used building, we require that everyone please RSVP via our Facebook event page before the event. NAGS will provide coffee, tea, water, and snacks. Lunch is BYO. There is a food truck and restaurants nearby. The office building we are using has a full kitchen to heat or refrigerate food. For more information, contact Josephine Hardy, vicepresident@nwagenealogicalsociety.org.

Would your organization like to sponsor a Watch Party? A great opportunity to socialize while enjoying the conference. All you need is a computer to run the Zoom session, a big screen for everyone to watch, speakers or a PA sound system, and a microphone to enable the audience to ask questions. A camera is encouraged, but not required. For more information or to register your party, click here.

Sponsors and Memorials

Sponsors — Support the conference by becoming a sponsor! As a sponsor, you or your company will be recognized on the AGS website, during the conference, and in the handouts. Following the conference, sponsors will also be listed in the Arkansas Family Historian, a quarterly publication distributed to numerous libraries and available on their shelves indefinitely. See this page to become a sponsor.

Memorials — Honor the memory of a loved one by making a contribution to the conference. Memorials will be displayed alongside the sponsors and in the same locations. See this page to create a memorial.

Gold Sponsors

Legacy Family Tree Webinars
Legacy Family Tree Webinars is a leading online education platform for genealogists, offering hundreds of expert-led classes on genealogy research, DNA analysis, and historical records. New webinars are presented weekly, and members enjoy on-demand access to thousands of recorded sessions and handouts. Founded by the creators of Legacy Family Tree software and now part of MyHeritage, Legacy Webinars connects researchers of all experience levels with world-class instructors. To support the Arkansas Genealogical Society Conference, Legacy Family Tree Webinars has donated two one-year memberships as door prizes—providing winners with a full year of unlimited genealogy learning.

Nine Muses Writing Group
Nine Muses Writing Group is dedicated to telling your story. We are experienced writers, be it research materials, business documentation, or article writing. We harness the power of the story to increase your reach, scale, and growth.

Genealogy Tech Talks
Scott Lee is a professional genealogist, retired software engineering consultant, and technical trainer. Working with the LDS Church, he helped develop the GEDCOM 5.5 standard by fixing its syntax, making the specification provably unambiguous, and correcting long-standing issues in date representations. He created RosettaCalendar.com, a tool for converting between ancient and modern calendars, and his open-source date-manipulation library, sdncal20, powers date and calendar functions in more than half of all websites worldwide. Today, he helps genealogists understand technology through his Genealogy Tech Talks.

Memorials

Bro. Paul Holderfield, Jr. Friendly Chapel Church of the Nazarene North Little Rock, AR

William Arthur Bennett November 16, 1908-September 6, 2006 A wonderful father and grandfather. A storyteller extraordinaire with a love for family history. He made a positive impact on everyone he knew. Well and lovingly remembered, he was a great man of his time.